Gladys Berejiklian is leaving the door open to privatise Sydney Metro’s growing costs after promising she wouldn’t sell off assets at the recent state election.
Appearing at Crows Nest in Sydney’s lower North Shore wearing high-vis and a hard-hat on Thursday, the New South Wales Premier did not rule out selling more assets to fund projects.
NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance suggested that they may have to sell public assets to fund bills.
‘It’s really important that we continue to get to a virtuous cycle of infrastructure investment,’ Mr Constance said.
However, this was not the promise the premier made at the recent NSW state election.
Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) is leaving the door open to private Sydney Metro’s growing costs after promising she wouldn’t sell off assets at the recent state election
Appearing at Crows Nest in Sydney’s lower North Shore wearing high-vis and a hard-hat on Thursday, the New South Wales Premier did not rule out selling more assets to fund projects
According to Nine News, when asked whether she will ‘sell any further assets’ Ms Berejiklian replied with a stern ‘we’ve said no’.
When asked by a reporter to confirm that she was not ruling it out the idea of selling off assets Ms Berejiklian was evasive.
She maintained the state had enough money for the Sydney’s Metro West project after the treasurer told the Telegraph he would ask the federal government for up to $3 billion to help fund it.
‘But we would benefit from the ability to bring things forward if we have extra funding,’ Ms Berejiklian told reporters.
Mr Constance announced the idea to replace tolls and public transport fares at a forum in Melbourne on Thursday.
When asked by a reporter to confirm that she was not ruling it out, Ms Berejiklian said: ‘Well, I’ve said that certain assets, of course, you would never recycle’
NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance (pictured) has proposed a Netflix-style monthly subscription fee to cover the costs of all travel including public, toll roads and even ride share services
According to 7NEWS, the minister proposed a Netflix-style monthly subscription fee to cover costs of all travel including public, toll roads and even ride share services.
‘Customers will purchase mobility as a service, you sign up for a nominal fee each week and all the different pricing from public and private providers is built into that,’ he said.
‘Whether it be an Uber, a rideshare, on-demand transport or a Metro.’
The announcement came just days after it was revealed one million customers had already used the new North West Metro rail line.
Ms Berejiklian said it is an incredible result for the new railway, which only opened two weeks ago.
‘Customers will purchase mobility as a service, you sign up for a nominal fee each week and all the different pricing from public and private providers is built into that,’ Mr Constance said
‘This is one of the world’s great metros and it is no surprise the community has voted with their feet and with their Opal cards,’ Ms Berejiklian said.
‘Patronage in the metro’s first two weeks has been amazing with an average of 72,000 journeys on weekdays – a huge result for a brand new mode of transport.’
The concept was introduced in London in February, called the Citymapper Pass, allows commuters to travel on buses, trains, trams and city bikes for a weekly subscription fee.
His announcement also came on the same day the the tunnel boring machine working on the $20b metro rail line had broken through to Crows Nest on its way to Chatswood.
‘We are now getting on with the job of extending the line from Chatswood, under the Harbour, through the CBD and onto Bankstown,’ Mr Constance said.
Sydney also contains ten toll roads including the M2, M4 West Connex, M5, M7, M4, the Eastern Distributor, the Cross-City Tunnel, the Lane Cove Tunnel, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Harbour Tunnel.
Sydney also has nine train lines in and out of the city and five inner city train lines.
The extended line will open in 2024, when Sydney will have 31 metro stations and a new 66km standalone metro railway between Tallawong and Bankstown.
His announcement also came on the same day the the tunnel boring machine (pictured) working on the $20b metro rail line had broken through to Crows Nest on its way to Chatswood